Coupling.



J. 1. JACOBS,

comme. APPLICUON FILED 1ULY15. 1916. RENEWED JULY19| 1918.

1,284,692.- Patented Nov. 12, 1918.

JOHN J. JACOBS, vor New YORK, N. Y.

COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

APatented Nov. 12, 1918.

Application filed J'uly 15, 1916, Serial No. 109,474. Renewed July 19, 1918. SerialNo. 245,795

T 0 aZZ whom t may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN J. JACOBS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Coupling, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

The invention relates toharness straps, belts, Suspenders and similar articles.

The obj ect of the invention is to provide a new and improved coupling connection for connecting a strap or a belt with a buckle, trace hook or a similar device and arranged to dispense with doubled-up portions of the strap or belt, and stitches for fastening the parts together thus greatly reducing the cost of manufacture both in labor and in material.

In order to accomplish the desired result, use is made of a coupling member having a loop for engagement with one of thevparts to be coupled together, the coupling member having side plates provided with regis tering slots, and a double button adapted to be attached to the other part and provided at its ends with heads 'engaging the said .i slots.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specificatiomin which similar charactersof reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the coupling or connection as appliedto a belt for attaching the buckle to one end thereof.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged face view of the same withthe retaining loop in section Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the same on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2; v

Fig. 4 is a sectional face view of the same with the strap turned into an angular position relative to the coupling member; and

Fig. 5 is a face view of the blank for forming the coupling member.

As illustrated in the drawings, one end of a belt or strap 10 is connected with a buckle 11 by the use of a coupling member 12 and a stud or a button 13. The coupling member 12 is preferably made from a rectangular piece of sheet metal doubled up to form a loop or an eye 14 and side plates'15 and 16 spaced apart for receiving one end of the strap or belt 10 between them. The loop or eye 14 engages the rear crossbar 17 of the buckle 11, and the said loop or eye `with the belt ori strap 10, .they end of the strap with the stud thereis provided at its middle with a cut-out pori tion 18 to accommodate the eye19 of the buckle tongue 20 mounted to swing on the rear crossbar 17 in the usual manner.

The Stud or button 13 extends in an aperture 21 formed in the end portion of the belt or strap 10 extendingbetween the side plates 15 and-16, and the said stud or button 13 is provided at' its end with annular grooves 22 and 23 adapted to engage the walls of the keyhole slots 24, 25 formeel in the side pl-ates 15 and 16 and located directly opposite each other so as to be in'register with each other. Itis understood that the grooves 22 and 23 in the stud or button 13 provide the latter with heads to project on the outer face of the side plates 15 and 16 to securely attach the side plates tothe belt or strap. The stud 13 is located in the strap or belt 10 a distance from the end thereof so that when the parts are fastened together the terminal of the strap or belt 10 abuts againstthe crossbar 17 of the buckle 11.

In assembling the parts, the coupling member 12 is engaged with the crossbar 17 of the buckle 11 and the stud 13 is engaged in is passed between the side plates 15 and 16 with the belt or strap standing approximately at a right. angle to the longitudinalk center of the buckle 11, as'

indicated in Fig. 4. 'The heads o f the stud 13 are passed through the enlarged ends of' the keyhole slots 24 and 25 and then thefbelt and then A or strap 10 is movedoutward lto the left-so as to enga ge the grooves 22 and 23 with the walls of the narrowportions of the slots 24 and 25. vThe belt or strap 10 is now given a quarter turn on the stud 13 as the fulcrum to move the belt or strap into alinement with the buckle 11. In order to readily permit this turning movement of the belt or strap 10. one corner thereof is preferably rounded Ott', as indicated at 26 in Fig. 4, but this is not absolutely necessary as the leatheror other similar material of which the belt or strap 10 is made yields sutficientlv to let the belt pass into longitudinal position relatively to the buckle 11. The end of the belt may also be provided with a notch 27 for accommodating the eve 19 to allow free movement thereof and to hold the belt 10 against turning movement on the stud or button 13. It will be noticed that the pull on the free end of the buckle by the free end.

of the belt or strap tends to hold the button or stud 13 in engagement With the narrow portions of the registering keyhole slots 2st and 25 so that the button is not liable to be accidentally disengaged from the side plates 15 and 16.

A retaining loop 30 of leather or other` flexible material extends around the side plates 15 and 16 and is adapted to receive and retain the free end of the belt or strap 10. In order to hold the retaining loop 80 from moving out of position use is made ot a liange 31 struck upat the end of the plate 16 for engagement with the adiacent edge of the loop 30 (see Fig. 3) to hold the latter in position on the member 12.

The coupling connection shown and described is very simple in construction as it is practically composed of but two parts, that is, the coupling member 12 and the stud 13 and the parts can be readily assembled to securely attach a buckle 11 or a similar device to one end of a belt or strap and Without resorting to doubling up the end portions ot the belt or strap and sewing the same together after the buckle is placed in positionyas heretofore practised.

Having thus described my invention, claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A coupling for buckle straps and similar articles7 comprising a coupling member having a loop for engagement with one of the parts to be coupled together. the coupling member having side plates provided with registering slots, and a double button adapted to be attached to the other part and provided at its ends with heads engaging the said slots.

2. A coupling for buckle straps and similar articles, comprising a coupling member made of a single piece of sheet metal doubled up to form a loop and side plates, the loop being adapted to be engaged with the buckle and the side plates being spaced apart for the reception of one end of the strap, the said side members having registering keyhole slots.y and a button held in the strap and having heads at the ends projecting beyond the faces of the strap and engaging the said slots.

3. A coupling tor buckle straps and similar articles, comprising a coupling member made of a single piece of sheet metal doubled up to form a loop and side plates, the loop being adapted to be engaged with the buckle and the side plates being spaced apart for the reception ot one end ot the strap. the said side members having registering keyhole slots., and a button held in the strap and provided at its ends with annular grooves to torni heads. the said grooves engaging the Walls ot the said keyhole slots.

a. A coupling for buckle straps and similar articles, comprising' a coupling member having a loop for engagement with one oi' the parts to be coupled together, the coupling member having side plates provided with registering slots, a double button adapted to be attached to the other part and provided at its ends with heads engaging the said slots, a retaining loop through Which extend the said side plates, and means on the coupling member engaging the said retaining loop to hold the latter in place.

5. A coupling for buckle straps and similar articles, comprising a coupling member made of a single piece of sheet metal doubled up to form a loop and side plates, the loop being adapted to be engaged With the buckle and the side plates being spaced apart for the reception ot one end of the strap, the said side members having registering key hole slots and one of the side plates having a turned up iange, a button held in the strap and engaging the said slots and a retaining loop through which extend the said side plates, the said flange engaging one edge of the retaining loop.

JOHN J. JACOBS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatenta, Washington, D. C.

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